Juli‡n Castro, Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Possible 2020 presidential candidate speaks at The Des Moines Register Political Soapbox Aug. 17, 2018.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee walks to the stage during the Johnson County Democrats annual barbecue fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, inside Building C at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Iowa City. Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen

The dust is still settling over the historic election that drew record-breaking turnout across Iowa, but prominent Democrats have already begun announcing plans to visit the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California will make the first post-midterm visit to Iowa with stops planned in Dubuque and Des Moines this weekend. It is Swalwell's 13th trip to the state since the start of 2017.

With that excuse now exhausted, who will be the next to make their presidential plans public?

They've already been to Iowa

Julian Castro, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama and former mayor of San Antonio, said when he was in Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair that he will "make a decision (about running for president) after November and before the end of the year."

"What I've said is I want to see what happens on Nov. 6 and then I'll look at whatever is going to be the most impactful, positive thing I can do," he said. "What I've said is this: I'm not ruling it out."

"Frankly, Iowa’s one of those states that I haven’t gone to a lot because we do know about that speculation," he told the Des Moines Register, declining to say whether he is exploring a run. "I think it’s irresponsible for anybody really to be focusing needed energy on an election two years and two months from now, as opposed to an election just two months from now."

Some have come so often, they might as well take up residence

Swalwell has done more than drop by Iowa. He's been to the state a dozen times, has used his leadership PAC to contribute more than $100,000 to Iowa Democrats, sent staff and volunteers to the first-in-the-nation caucus state in advance of the election and used his resources to make calls, text and other outreach to potential Democratic voters, according to his campaign.

“I was born in Iowa and I care about what happens in Iowa," Swalwell said. "Over the past two years, I’ve made a long-term commitment particularly because I knew the road to a House majority would have to run through Iowa. I’ve met a lot of great people during this time, and I look forward to seeing them again soon.”

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. John Delaney, a Maryland Democrat who is running for president, has been door-knocking and campaigning with Iowa candidates up and down the ballot, including legislative candidates. He has used resources to contribute more than a quarter of a million to Iowa campaigns.

Even if he weren't in the state, Delaney would be a familiar face to Iowans. By September, he had run more than 3,000 television spots in Iowa, spending more than $1 million on air. He stopped those campaign ads a few months before the November election, to give the midterm election the deference it was due.

But, with that election over, he — and potential candidates — will likely be back with a vengeance.

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